Torino and Juventus go head-to-head in an all-Turin Serie A showdown on Saturday, and it’s time to preview the game and take a look at the expected lineups. Both sides have blown hot and cold this season, but the visitors look to have a clear upper hand here following a notable upturn in form.
Juventus claimed a hard-fought 1-0 home victory over reigning European champions Chelsea in the Champions League like it’s nobody’s business, facing just a single shot on target. Massimiliano Allegri’s second tenure at the Allianz Arena has started to pick up steam as the Bianconeri seem to be on course of recovering from a sluggish start to the season.
Torino vs Juventus Head-to-Head
The recent H2H stakes in Serie A Derby della Mole heavily favor Juventus, who have lost just one of their last 30 league meetings with cross-town rivals (W22, D7). Incidentally, though, their lone defeat in that sequence came during Allegri’s previous spell at the club, with Torino running out 2-1 victors at this venue in April 2015.
Torino’s underdog status in this fixture is not unfounded, given that the Granata have failed to get on the scoresheet in 64% of their top-flight home clashes against Juventus in the 21st century (8/13). Meanwhile, they haven’t kept a clean sheet in any of those 13 encounters, conceding an average of 1.8 goals per match.
Regardless of which side of the spectrum of liking these clubs you stand, brace yourself for action-packed football. All of the last three Serie A duels between Torino and Juventus have featured over 2.5 goals and both teams scoring, with two of them producing 2+ first-half goals.
Torino Form Preview
Torino have had a rollercoaster of a season so far, and it’s hard to predict whether we will see Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde this weekend. The Granata followed up back-to-back league defeats with a pair of victories before finally sharing the spoils in the last two.
The only common denominator thus far has been Torino’s ruthlessness up top, with Ivan Juric’s men hitting the net in all six Serie A outings this season. Il Toro’s attacking game usually sparks into life beyond half-time, as witnessed by the fact that 88.89% of their league goals scored this term arrived in the second half of play (8/9).
Curiously, each of Torino’s three Serie A home matches this season have featured at least one goal beyond the 75th minute, highlighting the potential for plenty of late action.
But Juric’s men have established themselves as the ‘stalemate kings’ this calendar year, having drawn a league-high 13 matches since the turn of 2021. Only Reims and Athletic Bilbao (both 14) have played out more stalemates than the Granata in that period.
Player to Watch: Antonio Sanabria
Sanabria marked his only previous Derby della Mole appearance with a brace, having previously drawn a blank in all three Serie A matches against Juventus as a Genoa player. The 25-year-old has experienced a torrid start to the season, finding the net only once in five league matches.
However, with Andrea Belotti and Simone Zaza unavailable, Sanabria should be entrusted with shouldering Torino’s scoring burden here.
Juventus Form Preview
A brace of 3-2 triumphs over Spezia and Sampdoria has helped Juventus put an underwhelming four-game winless start to this Serie A campaign firmly behind (D2, L2).
Allegri’s men have developed a habit of squandering the lead, negotiating just two of five Serie A matches when scoring first this term (W2, D2, L1). Indeed, Juventus’ lapses of concentration in the later stages of play have seen them fail to score beyond the 75-minute mark in all three Serie A trips so far while conceding on two occasions in that period.
Though they were long considered the most formidable defensive unit in European football, Juve’s defensive woes can no longer be overlooked. The Bianconeri have failed to register a clean sheet in any of their last 20 Serie A outings in a row and are only one game away from equaling the club’s longest-ever such run in Italy’s top-flight (21 back in 1955).
A potential defeat here would see Juventus set another unwanted record. After losing their last two Serie A matches contested on Saturday, they stare at the risk of suffering three consecutive reverses on this day of the week for the first time in their top-flight history.
Player to watch: Juan Cuadrado
Cuadrado has struggled to make a single goal contribution in his last three Serie A appearances since scoring in Juventus’ 2-2 draw with Udinese on Matchday 1. But the Colombia international has been nothing short of exceptional against Torino lately, racking up one goal and three assists in his last three league meetings with this opposition.
With Paulo Dybala and Alvaro Morata out of the frame due to injuries, it will be up to Cuadrado to invent something in the final third alongside Federico Chiesa.
Torino vs Juventus Predicted Line-ups
Torino (3-4-2-1): Vanja Milinkovic-Savic; David Zima, Gleison Bremer, Ricardo Rodriguez; Mergim Vojvoda, Daniele Baselli, Sasa Lukic, Cristian Ansaldi; Karol Linetty, Josip Brekalo; Antonio Sanabria.
Juventus (4-3-3): Wojciech Szczesny; Danilo, Leonardo Bonucci, Matthijs de Ligt, Alex Sandro; Weston McKennie, Manuel Locatelli, Rodrigo Bentancur; Juan Cuadrado, Federico Bernardeschi, Federico Chiesa.